Cork's Atlantia raises funds as it expands food trial business

Clinical trial company has secured a €1m+ investment from Redesdale fund

Andrea Doolan, chief executive; and Barry Skillington, chief commercial officer of Atlantia; with Tara Dobinson, investment partner, Redesdale Food Fund.

Cork clinical trial company Atlantia has secured a €1m+ investment from John Conroy's Redesdale fund as it looks to expand its food trials business.

Atlantia is led by chief executive Anrea Doolan and chief commercial officer Barry Skillington. It spun out of APC Microbiome Ireland at University College Cork 10 years ago. It specialises in human clinical trials for nutrition, microbiome and medical device products.

It clients include leading global food, beverage and ingredient companies such as Danone, Kerry Group, PepsiCo, Givaudan, Unilever, and Tate & Lyle.

Atlantia has dedicated clinics in Cork and Chicago, USA. It runs trials on-site, managing all elements from protocol design, placebo manufacture, recruitment and study execution, through to sample and data analysis, statistics and report preparation.

The firm is carrying out a wider fundraising programme to expand its food trials business and build on the strong momentum it has achieved in the fast-growing medical device investigations market. 

Redesdale said it was very much attracted by this heightened ambition and will commit €1m to €1.5m in total to the programme through the Redesdale Food & Beverage Fund.

Andrea Doolan said: “We are delighted to welcome Redesdale as an investor in Atlantia. Their support reflects the strength of our scientific model and the growing demand for high-quality clinical evidence in the nutrition and medical device sectors. This investment enables us to accelerate our growth, expand our capabilities and continue supporting our clients in bringing scientifically validated products to market."

Redesdale said it was impressed with how Atlantia had established itself as an independent and trusted clinical trials company at the very top of its sector, based on the depth of its scientific knowledge and the quality of its clinical operations and data analysis. 

"With particular strengths in the areas of female health and microbiome, we are confident that Andrea and Barry can also establish a leading position for the company in the adjacent medical device investigations market.”

Founded by John Conroy, the Redesdale fund is backed by Enterprise Ireland, Lord Abbett, Musgrave, Coca-Cola, Monaghan Mushrooms and Tate & Lyle. The fund targets early-stage food, beverage, nutrition and food technology companies led by ambitious entrepreneurs.